


damaged goods

by Thechargingsky



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Canon Compliant, Falling In Love, M/M, Season 3 and 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 02:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17931467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thechargingsky/pseuds/Thechargingsky
Summary: David Rose was damaged goods. Love wasn't in the cards for him.





	damaged goods

David Rose had been burned too many times to count. By the time he and his family moved to Schitt’s Creek, he accepted that love simply wasn't in the cards for him. Alexis, yes, but him? Nope. However, just because love wasn’t in the cards didn’t mean that _like_ wasn’t. Or sex. Sex was entirely possible. For his first two years in Schitt’s Creek, he messed around a little. Had sex with Stevie, making him wish brain bleach was a thing. Then there was Jake, and the almost-throuple (again, where was the brain bleach?). Jake was hot, but he was also dumb and there were virtually no feelings beyond lust on David’s part. It was easy to end things with him. He didn’t risk anything being with Jake. Just possibly an STI and stumbling into a throuple with his best friend.

Then David met Patrick. He can’t say he was drawn to Patrick the first time they met at Ray’s. After all, he was so focused on the general store space and filing his business license, he didn’t think much beyond the cute guy (okay fine, he was drawn a little) who was poking fun at him under the guise of helping him with his paperwork. And yeah, the sports metaphors didn’t help (what the fuck was a change-up anyways?).

Somehow they ended up becoming business partners- Patrick was right. He was able to get the money from those grants he applied for. They flirted and maybe they closer to each other than coworkers should, always aware of each other's presence, but David tried to not think about it too much. David could never figure out if Patrick was just being friendly, or if there was possibly something more. David wasn't used to nice people. 

But then Patrick asked David out for his birthday. He wore a dinner jacket and brought him a gift. And not just any gift- he framed the receipt from their first sale at the store. David was almost rendered speechless- he’d never been given a more thoughtful or personal gift. And then for the first time, David felt more than just a flicker of attraction. He started to feel hope.

When he kissed Patrick that night, he felt that flicker of hope become full-blown and it scared him. He couldn’t sleep that night, oscillating between dread and excitment about seeing Patrick the next morning. He braced himself for yet another rejection, this time its possibility terrifying him. But it didn’t happen. Their second kiss felt even sweeter than their first. And once again, David felt that hope. He never expected to be drawn to a business major who wears straight-legged mid-range denim. But Patrick was unlike anyone David had ever met. He was kind and smart and funny and looked at him like he hung the stars _and_ the moon. Patrick saw David for who he was, beyond the designer sweaters, perfectly coiffed hair and snarky rebuttals. Patrick saw the real David, the David who called himself “damaged goods” with such sincerity, the David whose brain was constantly spiraling with “what if’s”, not wondering _if_ the bottom was going to fall out but preparing himself for _when_ it did.  
After all, David didn’t think he deserved this sort of love. He never imagined anyone would serenade him with a song (although he dreaded it up until Patrick began to sing). He never thought anyone thought he was worth that sort of effort or attention or love.

Love.

 As soon as that word flitted across David’s brain, he shoved it out of his mind. David Rose didn’t do love. The bottom had to fall out soon, right? It always did.

And it did. It fell out in front of his whole family too, adding shame and embarrassment to the feeling of being sucker-punched. The pain he experienced in the past was nothing compared to this. Even when Patrick told him that he didn’t feel _right_ until he met David, he still felt like his heart had been cut out of his chest. He spent four days wallowing, watching television and brushing off his family’s well-intentioned but annoying attempts to console him. He didn’t go to work, avoiding the store (and Patrick).

But Patrick did what David never expected him do, but should have because he's Patrick. Patrick fought for him. He sent him flowers, chocolate and even a bracelet. He texted him apologies with sweet earnestness that made him want to cry. He doesn’t even know why he’s surprised- after all, this is the man who bought him a cookie and Julia Stiles movie tickets for their four-month anniversary. David never had anyone fight for him before. Never had anyone choose him. In that moment, David's flicker of hope came back. 

Turns out them getting back together wasn’t as easy as he thought it was going to be. David fucked up, and he needed to extend an olive branch to Patrick. Performing that same Tina Turner song that Patrick sang to him weeks ago was terrifying to him. It was giving Patrick a part of him he’d never given anyone else. David spent his life perfecting the affected blasé attitude he used to navigate the world. It was his armor. So doing something so silly and heartfelt at the same time might have not seemed like a big deal, but David knew Patrick, and trusted Patrick to know why this was so important.

And after the song ended, with both of them laughing and kissing and maybe crying a little, David realized the bottom hadn’t fallen out after all.

Then Patrick told David he loved him, so gently and letting him know that he didn’t have to say it back. When Patrick told David that he was his Mariah Carey, David was reminded once again of how _well_ Patrick knew him. And David, being David, freaked out. Luckily he had work to do so the only running happening was in his head. It wasn’t until talking to Ted, of all people, that he realized Patrick was worth the risk. That he loved him. He went back to the store, brushing off the compliment Patrick gave him. David took a deep breath, put his hands on Patrick’s shoulders and with teary eyes, told Patrick something he never thought he would ever tell anyone. Other than his parents (twice) and at a Mariah Carey concert.

He loved him. David Rose loved Patrick Brewer and Patrick Brewer loved him back. Patrick loved him for all of his flaws, not in spite of them. Maybe he wasn’t damaged goods after all. Maybe all of that pain helped shape him to be the man Patrick loved today.

And for the first time in his life, David could envision a future with someone.

It felt like the best.

**Author's Note:**

> no beta. These two characters give me all the feelings


End file.
